Samuel and Mary Logan Briggs House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainStanford’s library runs 6.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lincoln County Public Library serves 24,776 people in and around Stanford. Last year it lent 103K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
Stanford’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Lincoln County Public Library offered 161 programs last year, 6.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 74% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 61% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Lincoln County Public Library serves 24,776 people in and around Stanford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Stanford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Stanford is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #107 of 126 in Kentucky. Stanford is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Stanford
1.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Stanford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Stanford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lincoln County Public Library serves 24,776 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lincoln County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
103K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,890 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Lincoln County Public Library, 201 Lancaster Street, Stanford.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lincoln County Public Library branch.
New in Stanford? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stanford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $761K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $761K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 6,665 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lincoln County Public Library serves 24,776 people in and around Stanford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Stanford.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Stanford
Does Stanford have a public library?
Yes. Lincoln County Public Library, 201 Lancaster Street, serves 24,776 people in and around Stanford (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lincoln County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Stanford’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Stanford’s civic life grade?
D Stanford is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #107 of 126 in Kentucky. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Stanford.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.